1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for degreasing of solid parts and of mass-produced parts, such as small metallic parts, comprising a drum with a perforated drum wall rotatable and drivable around a vertical axis, and a charge opening disposed on the top side and a discharge opening disposed at the floor side and closable with an axially movable floor closure, a stationary outer ring channel surrounding the drum and exhibiting at the bottom an outer ring trough with discharge ports, an inner ring channel disposed between the outer ring channel and the drum, axially shiftable with a set member, and including an inner ring trough at the bottom as well as feed lines for treatment agents to be delivered to the drum.
2. Brief Description of the Background of the Invention Including Prior Art
A device of the initially recited kind is already known from the German printed patent document DE-41 00 414 C1. According to the teachings of this reference, the inner ring channel can in fact be moved from a starting position, releasing the drum perforations, into an elevated position covering the drum perforations, however, it is not possible to seal the drum toward the outside. A flooding of the material disposed in the drum as well as the evacuation or the pressurization of the inner space of the drum is therefore not possible. The practicable and feasible treatment methods for the degreasing and drying as well as possibly conserving of solid or mass-produced parts are therefore limited and have to be extended over time until such predetermined effect is being achieved. In addition, a device for the oil impregnation of sintered parts is known from the international printed patent document WO 97/29853 (entry into U.S. national phase under Ser. No. 08/945,285), wherein the drum can be sealed toward the outside in order to flood the parts disposed in the drum and to subject them to an underpressure. The pressure-sealed closure of the drum is thereby performed immediately at the drum, i.e. at the rotatable part. This requires a substantial construction expenditure for the transfer from the stationary casing part to the rotatable drum, such as for example the feeding of treatment liquid or, respectively, the blowing in or the suctioning-off of air. This renders the apparatus extensive in its construction and difficult in its operation.
It is object of the present invention to furnish a method and an apparatus which is or, respectively, are capable to detect simultaneously both groups of gases, namely oxidizable gases as well as reducible gases with one and the same sensor based on metal sensors, such as in particular the known metal oxide sensors.